Wed.’s Devo - Jacob’s Death

Read: Genesis 48:1-49:33; Matthew 15:29-16:12; Psalm 20:1-9; Proverbs 4:20-27 Word came to Joseph that his father was failing quickly so he took his two sons to see Jacob one more time. Jacob told Joseph the promise their family had on the land of Canaan. It was God’s gift to their family. Jacob adopted Ephraim and Manasseh as his sons and told Joseph that sons after them would be his. *** He told Joseph to bring his sons near to him so he could bless them. Joseph placed Manasseh by his right hand since he was the first born but Jacob crossed his arms and put his right hand on Ephraim’s head. When Joseph tried to correct him he said that he was doing it right. Ephraim the youngest would be greater than his brother. He blessed them both with prosperity. *** Then he called in the other sons and blessed them according to what he saw in their future and what they had done in their past. When he finished he instructed them to take his body and bury it in the cave that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Leah and Rebekah were buried. Then he breathed his last breath and died. *** Jesus returned from Tyre to the Sea of Galilee and sat on a hill. He had accumulated a crowd who had brought their lame, blind, crippled, and those who couldn’t speak. He healed them all and they praised the God of Israel. *** Jesus gathered his disciples and told them he didn’t want to send the crowd away hungry. They had been with him for three days. He was looking to see if they had learned anything about faith. Alas, they hadn’t. They asked Jesus where in the world they would get enough food to feed this many people. Jesus asked them what they did have. They had seven loaves and a few small fish. *** Jesus had the people sit and took the loaves and fish and thanked God. He broke the loaves and fish and gave then to the disciples and they gave them to the people. It was Matthew 14 all over again. They fed 4,000 and took up 7 baskets of left-overs. Jesus left and went to the region of Magadan. *** One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to him and asked him to show them a miraculous sign to heaven to prove he had the authority from God to do these things. He told them they knew how to read natural signs in the sky but had no idea how to discern the times of God. They didn’t see what time they were living in. The only sign he would give them was the sign of Jonah the prophet. He left them and went away. *** When the got to the other side of the lake, Jesus told then to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They thought he was talking about bread, but he was talking about their deceptive doctrine. *** Lord, may we not be ignorant about what you are doing but may we be aware and participate.